Paul I agree with Tim, this is a great reminder and “gut check” for us in sales. I have had many customers tell me the reason I get their business is I show up. Not only do I get their business they share with me information related to their business they will not share with my competition. What a huge benefit this is when I am trying to solve their problems. The more complete the information the better.

Failing to be present in the client’s “business life” was one of the early mistakes my company was making, and I believe it’s on of the most common ones in startup businesses. You simply don’t have the experience to know how to manage certain things, sales included, unless you hire a professional straight away, which we obviously didn’t.
They sar far from the eyes far from the heart, and this is very true in sales. You can’t expect a client to consider you for a project if he doesn’t even remember about you.

No doubt that I fall victim to this on occasion. Since I work for myself, I’m not only selling my services but delivering them also. At some point, something has to give and that might mean that I’m not as active posting in my LinkedIn groups. Since business is going really well, I’m working to correct what I feel is a great problem to have:)

Great stuff, Paul! It’s so easy to focus on the next sale and in meeting the demands of the day to forget to show up. Problem is, if we fail to do so, you can bet the competition will. Good reminder to reach out and hug someone today … Thanks!!!

I know that I have been fallen off the Twitter wagon to some extent. Just not posting as much as I would like. I have been more focused on LinkedIn. Seems like people are a bit more open to actual discussions there. Still need to spend time on both.

The one thing I would add is when you do show up, follow through. It’s so annoying when you’re in a the middle of a good back-n-forth (via in-person, email, phone) and the other person says something like – “Oh yeah, I’ll introduce you to so-in-so and it never happens”. Empty promises are my number 1 relationship killer.